Why This Australian Town Changed Its Name to a Number

When the U.S. post office rolled out its new five-digit ZIP codes in 1963, America was skeptical. "People were concerned they were being turned into numbers," a Post Office historian told Time. "They thought it was depersonalizing them." But mail volume had doubled since World War II and hand-sorting of addresses just wasn't working anymore. With the help of a canny ad campaign and a cute cartoon mascot—Mr. ZIP!—America was convinced that turning its towns into numbers wasn't such a crisis. Just seven years later, a tiny Australian town decided to go one better, and actually chose a number for its name.

In 1770, 1770 was "Round Hill," the birthplace of Queensland.
On May 24, 1770, James Cook and two of his crew went ashore near Round Hill Head, which is today part of Queensland's "Discovery Coast." It was just his second visit to the new continent, whose eastern shore he had discovered when he made landfall at Botany Bay the previous month. The men admired the pelicans flying across the inlet, which they named Bustard Bay after a delicious game bird they shot and ate there.

Australia had a bicentennial celebration six years before America's.
In 1970, Australia observed the 200th anniversary of Cook's visit, even issuing a commemorative coin for the occasion. The tiny town of Round Hill decided to get in on the action, changing its name to 1770 in honor of the fateful year. Every May since 1993, the town has held a 1770 Festival re-enacting Cook's first visit, which begins with a street parade and ends with fireworks over Bustard Bay.

It still looks like 1770 around 1770.
The numerical town of 1770 is more than just a map oddity—it’s a great off-the-beaten-track vacation spot. The marina offers snorkeling cruises out to Lady Musgrave Island, your gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, while nearby Agnes Water is Queensland's northernmost surf beach. Hop in a kayak, hike out to the Bustard Head Lighthouse, or whale-watch in one of the nearby national parks. Unlike Botany Bay, which is now a bustling neighborhood of Sydney, the coastline of 1770 looks much like it did when Captain Cook's HMS Endeavour first moored there.

Officially, 1770's nice short name is four times as long.
While locals always write the town's name as "1770," the Australian government officially spells it out as "Seventeen Seventy." It's the largest number with a town named after it, but it's far from the only one. If you're traveling by the numbers, you'll also want to visit Fifty-Six, Arkansas (named for its school district number), Eighty Eight, Kentucky (the bright idea of a postmaster who wanted an easy-to-write numerical name because his handwriting was so bad), and Hundred, West Virginia (named to honor its founders, a couple who both lived well past one hundred). My personal favorite: Blueberry, British Columbia, which is now known as Wonowon. Why Wonowon? It's located at Mile 101 on the Alaska Highway.